Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on April 24, according to the Tribune’s archives.
Is an important event missing from this date? Email us.
Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago)
- High temperature: 87 degrees (1990)
- Low temperature: 29 degrees (2015)
- Precipitation: 2.05 inches (1976)
- Snowfall: 0.9 inches (1910)
1809: Ninian Edwards of Kentucky was appointed the first Illinois Territory governor by President James Madison. On Aug. 7, 1826, Edwards won election to the Illinois governorship, and on Dec. 6, 1826, he was sworn into office.
1901: The debut of the Chicago White Stockings (now White Sox) — not to be confused with the previous White Stockings, which later became the Cubs — was also the first American League game.
Vintage Chicago Tribune: The White Sox’s wild ride into the team’s 125th season
Roy Patterson pitched the White Sox to their first victory, an 8-2 win over Cleveland.
1985: Michael Jordan scored 35 points in his first playoff victory with the Chicago Bulls — a 109-107 win in Game 3 of the first round against the Milwaukee Bucks. Two days later, however, the Bulls were eliminated by the Bucks 3 games to 1.
Also in 1985: Chicago Tribune political cartoonist Jeff MacNelly won a Pulitzer Prize — his third. Studs Terkel’s “The Good War” also won. Terkel said, “I guess this proves that if you stick around long enough, anything can happen. It makes me respectable.”
2019: After failing to show up in Cook County Circuit Court to answer allegations he sexually abused an underage girl in the late 1990s, Kelly lost a civil lawsuit by default. The next week, Kelly said he wanted the decision reversed, saying he was never properly notified of the lawsuit’s existence.
2020: City Council voted 46-4 to ban horse-drawn carriages in Chicago under an ordinance that went into effect Jan. 1, 2021. For years, animal rights activists and some aldermen had cited traffic congestion, multiple citations and animal welfare concerns about the practice.
2024: The Chicago Bears unveiled plans for a new stadium project on the lakefront partly funded by the public that would give the team a facility in line with many of the NFL’s ultramodern, fan-friendly structures.
Less than a year after the Bears delivered the grand presentation with a vision for a new multibillion-dollar stadium on the Museum Campus downtown, the train for the team’s stadium project may be switching tracks.
After the NFL owners meetings concluded on April 2, 2025, at The Breakers resort, Bears President/CEO Kevin Warren confirmed the team no longer has a singular focus on building its new stadium downtown.
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